


All Of The Stars

by russianpotatofarm



Category: DRAMAtical Murder
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Kinda?, Long-Distance Relationship, M/M, Skype, Tumblr, time zones are complicated
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-08-17
Updated: 2014-08-25
Packaged: 2018-02-13 12:28:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,678
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2150709
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/russianpotatofarm/pseuds/russianpotatofarm
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mizuki meets an unpredictable, irritable, overexcited teenager online and shit kind of hits the fan from there.<br/>basically discontinued? maybe one day</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

It's in a fit of boredom and intense desire to avoid his responsibilities that Mizuki posts his Skype online, and it ends up being way more than he bargained for.

 

Seriously. He could have done with a few days' notice.

 

In his defense, he's got nothing else to do, except homework, which doesn't really count as “something to do,” and even if this is supposed to be his preplanned break from work he's got jack shit to do except go back to doing homework, attempt a fifteen minute nap, and maybe eat his weight in junk food. None of which are going to work out well in the future. He did not think this out well.

 

To be honest, he isn't expecting much in the way of response. In the year or so he's been on Tumblr, he's seen people post all sorts of ways to contact them, from Kik to actual phone numbers, and then the exact same people complaining about getting little to no response. He does know that he won't get much response, and really, it's more driven by a lack of stuff to do and a desire to be able to say he did post it at some point. He did try to socialize. Like once. Futilely.

 

Good enough.

 

He thinks if he's lucky, maybe this will finally stop Koujaku from pestering him to socialize more. As if Mizuki doesn't want to make friends. He really does. He likes interaction and getting to know someone and having dumbass inside jokes. The whole concept of friendship is kind of awesome. It's nothing to do with that. He's just painfully awkward, and he's never managed to make a conversation last more than half an hour before both parties gave up entirely.

 

Apparently, friendship is one of those things you can't force, at all.

 

But he's trying, which is more effort than he's made in the past (as in, he is making effort). When Koujaku messages him later, at least he'll be able to say he's made progress. Kind of.

 

To distract himself from the obsessively refreshing his activity feed, checking if anyone's liked the post containing his username, he shuts the laptop and rummages around for some spare paper. He's not poor, exactly, but as a seventeen-year-old high school student with passable grades and little he's accomplished, he is also not in a position to start bargaining for a drawing tablet. Like any self-respecting artist with limited resources, Mizuki does have his eye on a specific model, but it's almost $90. And while his parents are pretty damn supportive, not to mention well-off, he somehow feels like they'd kind of freak out if he requested something like that.

 

It is a blow to his dignity, though, if he has to use printer paper.

 

He doesn't really have anything in mind to draw. He should probably work on his backgrounds, he thinks; lately, they've been more of scribbles of color that seem to fit the general palette of the main image, and it's probably better if they're actually contributing rather than just an afterthought. Still, he's kind of opposed to it. He likes doing things he's already good at. Not so much working on the stuff he knows will inevitably frustrate him.

 

Backgrounds, he thinks. He's not good at backgrounds. More often than not, they end up as hastily scribbled color rather than anything that actually contributes to the pictures, and he will never be a quality artist if he doesn't work on them. Besides, he's determined. He's sure he can dredge up the motivation to work on it.

 

He lasts maybe ten minutes before flopping onto his bed with a groan.

 

He's never going to get the hang of this.

 

Sighing at his own inability to do anything productive, he pulls his phone out of his back pocket. Sure, he could get up, walk over to the desk, open the laptop like a functioning person who isn't lazier than a dead fish. That's actually a good idea, he thinks. It's tiny, but he won't be left to wallow in his own self pity.

 

He considers it briefly. His dignity, or the slight comfort in knowing that he is in a nice position and doesn't have to get up. It's a difficult choice.

 

He unlocks his phone.

 

Actually, his attempts to convince himself that he won't get any responses seem to have worked. He has fully accepted that Tumblr is a black hole of social interaction, and if he does get any queries they'll most likely be conversations that end after five minutes. Oh well. At least he met someone.

 

He almost does a double take when he does see someone's contact request.

 

When he's finished being somewhat freaked out, he looks over the limited information Skype provides.

 

Their name, like a good percentage of most Skype names, is just a phrase that may or may not actually make sense. This person's is Sly Blue, which confuses Mizuki a little. He doesn't recognize it from any fandoms or (god forbid) memes, and it's not a pun or anything.

 

It only gets worse from there, though. Sly Blue's icon is an image of Naruto Uzumaki's face zoomed in a disproportionate amount, and their mood message is an all-caps series of lyrics that resemble the Sonic X opening suspiciously closely, followed by “BA DUM TSHHH.” He's listed as unavailable.

 

Okay.

 

He was not accounting for this level of instability.

 

He steels himself for whoever this is, and notices that Sly Blue has also left him a message in his contact request.

### Sly Blue

5:03 so I get your skype and its like not even a reasonable time of day yet but I think to myself why the hell not and here I am awake at nine fucking am

5:04 so what's up

 

Mizuki checks the time. It's 5:10, so he hasn't left him hanging for long. He responds as quickly as he can.

 

**Mizuki .**

5:10 Hey!

ah not much just drawing

5:11 You?

Sly responds almost immediately.

**Sly Blue**

5:11 well not homework that's for sure

**Mizuki .**

5:11 Homework's important! Esp in high school.

 

He says as he bullshits on the internet.

 

Mizuki assumes that he's in high school. Most of the people he knows on Tumblr are. That, or college, but he's pretty sure that college students would have a more dedicated attitude towards homework. Also wouldn't be texting back right away at 9 AM on a Friday.

 

**Sly Blue**

5:12 but im too cool for school

**Mizuki .**

5:12 Yeah didn't you say it was 9? Aren’t you supposed to be in school?

**Sly Blue**

5:12 well I AM

5:12 but thats a rly different question from am i in the classroom

**Mizuki .**

5:13 You can definitely get suspended for cutting class

**Sly Blue**

5:13 well then aren't u missing out

5:13 porn or nah?

 

What.

 

**Mizuki .**

5:13 What the fuck

**Sly Blue**

5:14 yknow

5:14 you said you were drawing

Oh.

 

That's not much better, but it's not awful.

 

He guesses.

 

He doesn't want to think about what he thought Sly Blue meant.

 

**Mizuki .**

5:15 what kind of person do you think I am?!

5:15 and what kind of question is that???

5:15 No, it's not porn. My parents would kill me if they found me drawing it.

**Sly Blue**

5:16 well then u my friend need a better security system

**Mizuki .**

5:16 Even if I had one, they'd find a way.

**Sly Blue**

not if u spray toxic gas into the hallway when they try to raid ur room

**Mizuki .**

That sounds inconvienient and also sort of inhumane

**Sly Blue**

nah are you kidding me gas is the most humane way

there is limited choking

limited

:P

**Mizuki .**

Are you okay

**Sly Blue**

I slept at like fuckin 3 last night u tell me

**Mizuki .**

Holy crap why?!

**Sly Blue**

there is shit to do

such as beat shit up

and listen to heavy metal music at full blast

this is the life mizuki

this is the life

HOLY FUCKING SHIT WHAT DID I JUST FIND

**Mizuki .**

That's not a life thats just an action movie

I don't know because im not psychic

**Sly Blue**

oh thats disappointing

okay listen the fuck up

THIS GIRL THIS FUCKING HIPSTER GIRL

SHE DOES NOT UNDERSTAND HOW POKEMON WORKS

“CHARIZARD IS MY FAVORITE” SHE SAYS

CHARIZARD

YOU PICK THE TINY ASS FIRST EVOLUTION

YOU COULD HAVE THE BIG ASS FINAL STAGE

DRAGONITE EVEN

YOU WANT DRAGONS? WE GOT EM

YOU WANT THAT KAWAII DESU SHIT? DRAGONITE GOT U COVERED

BUT YOU SETTLE

FOR A CHARIZARD

WHY

**Mizuki .**

You are very passionate about your pokemon

**Sly Blue**

well yeah of course I am

this is a way of life

this isn't to be taken fucking lightly

especially when your fandom is full of ten yr olds

**Mizuki .**

That does not sound fun no

**Sly Blue**

and u sit there

in this mayhem

a sixteen year old boy

and you know you will never get out

because you live in fucking JAPAN

THE EPICENTER OF POKEMON

AND WHAT YOU WANT IS NOT THIS YOU WANT TO FIGHT PEOPLE AND HAVE SOME NINJA STARS AND MAYBE A DRAGON

NOT THIS

**Mizuki .**

See this is often known as sleep deprivation

**Sly Blue**

I IWSH I WAS SLEEP DREVIED

SO I DID NOT HAS TO SEE THIS BULLCRAP

**Mizuki .**

Wait do you really live in Japan?

**Sly Blue**

YEAH

and I swear to fucking some god that if you start talking about kawaii desu shit im gonna inflict serious injury upon you

**Mizuki .**

No, I'm good. I'm not really into that stuff.

Also you already used that phrase

Your english is pretty awesome!

**Sly Blue**

im using it because it summarizes my aesthetic

why the fuck do you say that

**Mizuki .**

No. Calm down.

Just, it's Kanji based, right? That must be hard to translate.

**Sly Blue**

well

that was surprisngly not condescending

yes it is as hard as my raging boner for destroying shit

;)

**Mizuki .**

That was an interesting metaphor

**Sly Blue**

im glad u noticed this does not come easily to me I need to think this shit up like a month in advance

swear to god I have like a notebook chock full of random innuendos

that and long strings of swearing

**Mizuki .**

Bullshit.

**Sly Blue**

file sent

 

Mizuki clicks on the small icon, waiting for it to load and cursing his slow connection.

 

When it finally does, he opens it up, and sure enough, there's a cheap red notebook with Japanese scrawled on the front in Sharpie.

 

**Sly Blue**

it translates to

and are you ready for this

it translates to burn book

bask in the glory

**Mizuki .**

Wait

That's Mean Girls, right?

**Sly Blue**

ofc it is

mean girls is love mean girls is life

**Mizuki .**

Are you memeing

**Sly Blue:**

not just memeing im shrek memeing its worse and better

feel the power

**Mizuki .**

I wouldn't have pegged you for a Mean Girls fan

**Sly Blue**

wat r u implying

**Mizuki**

Well I mean, you did just send me a picture of a notebook full of innuendos.

 

While he's trying to type a follow up, Sly responds.

 

**Sly Blue**

did u even see mean girls there was a whole scene where regina made out with a dude

like multiple scenes actually

**Mizuki .**

I actually haven't seen Mean Girls, to be honest.

**Sly Blue**

well I guess you

can't sit with us

;)

**Mizuki .**

There's no one else here

**Sly Blue**

that was a quote from mean girls

u have let me down man

**Mizuki .**

Oh, right! I actually understand that reference

**Sly Blue**

it's adorable its like ur the fuckin last airbender

u dont understand shit about pop culture

**Mizuki .**

Whats the last airbender

**Sly Blue**

fuck

we gotta have a movie marathon man

**Mizuki .**

You live in Japan

**Sly Blue**

no wait I got this

theres this website right for long distance relationships n sappy shit like ur always together forever idgaf I dont have exp with long distance relationships

but we could watch mean girls on it

 

Mizuki isn't sure if Sly is being forward or just honestly incredibly dedicated to getting Mizuki to see this movie.

 

**Mizuki .**

Are you implying a long distance relationship between us

**Sly Blue**

do u want me to ;)

but no

what I am implying is that you are about 2 get your ass kicked all the way from japan if u dont fuckin watch mean girls

 

He's not sure how that would work, but he's inclined to go along with him.

 

**Mizuki .**

Alright, sounds good

Sign me up

**Sly Blue**

u do understand that u need to make your own account

**Mizuki .**

Yes.

It was a phrase, Sly.

**Sly Blue**

YES IT WAS SHIT DAMNIT I FORGOT

they call me sly blue

they call me asshole

they call me pokemon nerd

thats not my name

thats not my name

**Mizuki .**

Uh

Sorry?

**Sly Blue**

are u fuckin kidding me

I cannot BELIEVE

that I live in japan

and I understand more of american pop culture

than u do

**Mizuki .**

Yeah its sort of disproportionate

Im sort of doubting the Japan thing now

**Sly Blue**

do u need pics because I can hook you up

**Mizuki .**

No, I'm good.

Alright, send me a link. I'll sign up. I'll watch the movie

**Sly Blue**

im proud of ur choice

  
  


He spends pretty much the rest of the night talking to Sly Blue- even if that is, apparently, not his name.

Mean Girls is actually not all that bad. It does have some decent one liners, and while Mizuki can't help but comment on the somewhat stereotypical gayness portrayed in it, he pays attention to Sly's running narrative on the movie. A fair amount is insane rambling and allusions to sex, but Mizuki is quickly learning that this is how Sly communicates a good percentage of the time.

He has to pause for dinner, and Sly occasionally disappears for up to ten minutes, but their conversations are mostly uninterrupted. They never seem to run out of things to talk about, either, which is impressive. Somehow, the force of Sly's broken thought process always manages to give them new topics. It's sort of helpful, even if his lack of attention span makes discussing things with him a little difficult.

Sly flits around with genres, usually focusing on things he's found via Tumblr. He makes him watch a few episodes of Avatar, and is utterly disgusted when Mizuki assumes it means the James Cameron version. Which is kind of contradicted when he admits to loving both Avatars with all his heart. Mizuki can't hold back a snort at that.

Once they've sufficiently binge watched, Mizuki announces he's going to bed.

**Sly Blue**

wtf it's like 11 your time

**Mizuki .**

Yeah, but some of us need sleep to function.

**Sly Blue**

yeah the weaklings

**Mizuki .**

Sleep loss makes you weaker, actually

**Sly Blue**

yeah but so does drinking alcohol and people do that shit all the time

**Mizuki .**

Notice how both are bad decisions

**Sly Blue**

ugHHHHHHH

MAYBE ill sleep but I guarantee nothing

except a lot of fun

**Mizuki .**

It's like 3 there, right?

**Sly Blue**

yeah

the day is young

guess what else is

**Mizuki .**

Dont

Im not even sure how you got innuendo out of that without sounding like a pedophile

 

Actually, Mizuki didn't really understand the innuendo that _was_ meant to be there. He's unsure if that's because he's tired or because Sly is just really good at making fairly appropriate things sexual.

 

**Sly Blue**

eh it was a stretch

BUT IT WAS ABOUT TO BE A GOOD ONE

**Mizuki .**

None of them are good ones!

**Sly Blue**

oh you cut me deep

u know what else u cut

**Mizuki .**

No

do not.

**Sly Blue**

ok fine I wont

because I care

sleep tight ;)

**Mizuki .**

Uh, thanks?

He minimizes the window, refreshing everything one last time to check for any missed activity before bed. It's sort of a ritual, at this point. He feels kind of uncomfortable when he doesn't know he's caught up before sleeping.

He's just getting ready to shut down the laptop when he remembers something.

**Mizuki .**

Wait, what does your username mean?

Sly responds with his usual speed.

**Sly Blue**

its uh

ha

its actually kind of dumb

my name is koukatsu

I mean theres like a line over the o or smthn but a lot of people dont have that on their keyboards so

anyway

it translates to sly in japanese

like it gives me the ability to be all cunning n shit u feel

names are a big deal here

and blue because I dyed my hair that to look all dramatic and hardcore and everything

gotta rebel u know

and yeah its just a default username now

I dont even know what it means anymore

I just got more comfortable going by sly than kokatsu somehow

**Mizuki .**

Thats not dumb!

Thats a cool story actually

your name is really pretty!

**Sly Blue**

stfu

its not pretty

**Mizuki .**

Ok sure

Sorry goodnight for real

**Sly Blue**

go the fuck to sleep I have shit to do

**Mizuki .**

Yeah ok

gnight!

  
  


As usual, it takes him a while to get to sleep. His thoughts are going a million miles per hour, and he keeps circling back to Sly- or Koukatsu, whoever he is- and what they talked about.

 

He remembers something Sly had said now, about sending him a picture. To be fair, it had probably been a joke. Just something to keep the conversation going.

 

But now that he thinks of it, he kind of wishes he'd taken him up on his offer.

 


	2. Chapter 2

9 PM

 

Sly Blue is fucking weird.

 

He should have noticed this before, but it's still a suprise.

 

He should not have doubted the sheer intensity of his weirdness.

 

In the week or two they've been talking, Sly has both amped up the flirting and become a lot more active on Mizuki's blog. Even if their blogs are almost opposites- Mizuki's drifts closer to the hipster side, Sly's further towards the general bullfuckery Tumblr is so well known for, Sly does put in effort. He reblogs all of Mizuki's dumb little sketches and adds broken rambles in the tags that Mizuki thinks are compliments, but sound more like assorted song lyrics from 2005 strung together. Both work, he guesses.

 

At least he's trying. That in itself is a good sign. From Mizuki's limited observation, Sly doesn't seem to expend more energy than he absolutely has to in most things. The fact that he's even still talking to Mizuki is kind of pleasing. Sly wouldn't keep it up if this whole thing was more trouble than it was worth.

 

In the end, a lot of their conversations end up being Sly desperately trying to make Mizuki more cultured. He's somewhat impressed when Mizuki tells him he's good at cooking, saying that at least if Mizuki is too American and ignorant to the apparently fascinating world of pop culture, then maybe he can woo someone with his kitchen skills. Mizuki isn't sure where Sly had been going with that, actually.

 

He tries to appreciate all the movies Sly shows him, and there's a wide variety of them. The first few are at least on a similar track- Pitch Perfect, High School Musical, and for some reason Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog (Sly's dedication to typing out all the lyrics as they're sung onscreen is sort of frightening). The next few, especially Pacific Rim, are sort of a jarring shift. Mizuki's not complaining, really; the whole Jaeger thing is kind of cool, but when he's been watching sugary pink musicals with Sly for days and suddenly _“bam, motherfucker, ROBOTS”_ appears to be the new philosophy, Mizuki is a little thrown.

 

Sly gets really enthusiastic about all of them, though. Mizuki has never seen someone who could achieve the same levels of fangirl about Disney movies as The Purge. He thinks if he harnessed Sly's sheer unpredictability, he could power his laptop for a year.

 

He still isn't totally sure if Sly's mind is really that scattered and disjointed, or he just uses it to seem quirky and interesting. Both, he thinks. He's not sure if he can really pin down any specific behavior of Sly's.

 

It's nice, though. He likes the strangeness. He likes that Sly thinks things he's never heard before and that he reacts in ways Mizuki never could have pictured, and he likes that Sly just says things, doesn't sugarcoat them. He's got such strange things to say, too. Sly comments on anything that gives him reasonable fodder for using up one of his long phrases full of swears mashed together and the occasional noun, and Mizuki has had to just set his phone down for a while on multiple occasions because Sly kept going on hysterically about how all that was wrong with the world was because of one specific weird and/or irritating (to Sly) event. It's surreal, almost.

 

And he switches so quickly. Sly can become critical and flat and emotionless in less time than it takes Mizuki to brush his teeth, and it's sometimes disconcerting.

 

Sly is just weird, he decides.

 

That sums it up pretty well.

 

 

After two weeks (Mizuki would rather pretend he isn't counting) Sly has miraculously run out of movies to show to Mizuki, and Sly acts like the former is graduating from something. Sly Blue's Pop Education Boot Camp, maybe. He should make fliers.

 

But for some reason, even if it's irrational, he worries that Sly will lose interest with him. He does know that if Sly's been around this much, this long then odds are he won't ditch suddenly, but still. A good chunk of their talks were based heavily around rumination on movies, and maybe now it'll be too hard to keep Sly around.

 

And he does want him around.

 

He only realizes how lame it sounds when he thinks it clearly, and almost winces. He's so clingy and nervous already that it could rival a Disney movie's cast.

 

He thinks maybe it is a good idea not to focus on this heavily.

 

He unlocks his laptop, fingers stumbling over the keys slightly. He pulls up Skype as usual, and notices that Sly has already sent him something

 

**Sly Blue**

fun fact of the day: if you try to punch someone twice your size when your hands aren't wrapped you will actually break your hand

or just hurt it a lot

dont

 

Both confused and alarmed, Mizuki responds as quickly as he can, not remembering to filter his immediate reaction to become protective and (maybe more than) a little maternal.

 

**Mizuki .**

You okay?! And yeah, I would have thought you would know that.

 

Sly responds about five minutes later.

 

**Sly Blue**

yeah well it was not my finest moment

im ok I just hurt myself more than is fashionable and it totally fucked up my outfit

**Mizuki .**

Priorities

**Sly Blue**

noiz is already chewing me out for it he says I am

“never going to get anywhere if you keep just punching random crap. seriously. bandage your hands. get a gun.”

wow noiz really I thought u cared about me

**Mizuki .**

Well he kind of has the right idea

Who's Noiz?

**Sly Blue**

german fuckass extraordinaire

but he has good fighting tips and he practices english with me and he's hacked into shit for me before so hes not all bad

well

maybe like 60% bad

**Mizuki .**

60%

**Sly Blue**

oh he knows it too

he doesnt spare my ego and it hurts

**Mizuki .**

Your ego's already kinda overinflated

**Sly Blue**

ehhhhhhh

could always be worse

**Mizuki .**

Keep it that way

**Sly Blue**

oh I forgot hes on tumblr too hes pokeballsack or something idk

WOW

**Mizuki .**

I'm sure you can take it

wait why is that his url

**Sly Blue**

noiz is a very special child

**Mizuki .**

Clearly

But how did you hurt yourself like that anyway?

**Sly Blue**

wellllllll

there was douchebag

and u must understand I kinda have a reputation of

yknow

dicksucking to put it mildly

**Mizuki .**

Thats not mildly

**Sly Blue**

fine to put it not as vulgar as I could

anyway whether this reputation is true or not is up 2 u to decide

;)

but yeah people do assume its true

and then SOMETIMES if I go out

I occasionally

end up punching someone

because I do not always appreciate the implication im always dtf

I have places to be

shit to fuck up

**Mizuki .**

DTF

**Sly Blue**

down to fuck

really we need to work on your slang

so yeah I kinda got pissy and kneed him in the balls and tried this move noiz taught me

apparently he neglected to mention that it is often most effective when it is an evenly matched fight

come to think of it this applies to p much any move

**Mizuki .**

Weird but true

**Sly Blue**

pfffft

anyway it was not my fault

he started it

**Mizuki .**

You didnt have to rise to the bait

**Sly Blue**

OKAY

BUT IF SOMEONE YELLS ACROSS THE STREET

“FIVE FOR A BJ?”

WHAT DO U DO

SKIP MERRILY ACROSS THE STREET W/ FLOWERS IN UR HAIR

SINGING TO URSELF

OR DO YOU PUNCH THAT FUCKER IN THE GUT AND TAKE HIS WALLET

five isnt even a lot of money mind u

**Mizuki .**

Neither

**Sly Blue**

THIS IS NOT AN OPTION

**Mizuki .**

Couldn't you call the cops?

**Sly Blue**

oh yeah thatd be a gr8 plan

if “the cops” wasnt an old guy with a megaphone and a god complex

**Mizuki .**

Okay yeah maybe you were justified

**Sly Blue**

maybe

but yes. thank u for understanding.

**Mizuki .**

Just maybe

Wrap your hands or something? Can you do that?

**Sly Blue**

awww are u concerned about my safety

im swooning can u feel it

**Mizuki .**

Yeah a little

Both I guess

**Sly Blue**

and they say technology is ruining lives

so motherfucker im gonna need a five paragraph essay on the characterization of sharpay evans by tomorrow

**Mizuki .**

Right.

Can I ask why

**Sly Blue**

im glad u did

I dont know but I feel like its gonna change u as a person

sharpays a great role model open ur eyes to sharpay and she will show you the light

disclaimer: the light may just be all the fucking rhinestones on her outfit

fuck u disney costume department

**Mizuki .**

I'll get right on that

**Sly Blue**

disclaimer I did not actually intend for you to fuck the costume department

I mean follow your dreams but idk how that would work

use lube

**Mizuki .**

…

**Sly Blue**

wow rude

:P

 


	3. Chapter 3

The time Mizuki spends before he meets Sly and after are very, very different.

 

For one, he ends up fielding shitty puns and watching 90's movies way more often than he had originally thought he would at this age. This is mostly due to the fact that Sly's idea of a good time is rewatching musicals and making dirty jokes about every other line, and because Mizuki is there and Sly doesn't seem bored of him just yet he ends up getting pulled along for the ride. Mizuki thinks he's watched more movies in that month than he has in the rest of his life.

 

Sly is incredibly pleased with the progress they've made. He's even more amused when Mizuki notices that Sly's incorrigibly filthy mind has rubbed off on him, and Sly is incoherent with laughter apparently so bad he can't type properly the first time Mizuki points out a vague innuendo in the second High School Musical movie.

 

Mizuki is both alarmed and impressed. Sly's sense of humor is even more twisted than he thought.

 

That aside, the time difference ends up getting in the way- like, a _lot._ Around the time of day Sly just starts getting going translates to maybe 2 in the afternoon for Mizuki, so when Sly is spewing nonsense and freaking out and hitting on him constantly (well, more than usual), Mizuki is either in class or just getting home. He can't count the number of times he's almost gotten caught messaging him in class because for the life of him, Mizuki couldn't stop blushing. It isn't even like Mizuki has a crush on him, really. Sly is just really, really forward.

 

The sheer number of winking smilies is going to drive Mizuki insane.

 

 

It's also a day ahead for Sly. Sixteen hours, actually. This makes figuring out the date incredibly confusing. Once, Mizuki made the mistake of asking him what day it was for his homework. Turns out that explaining to a teacher that you were talking to a rogue Japanese teenager while doing your homework is kind of painful.

 

Sometimes, it shocks him, too. Even if Skype provides a handy little widget on laptop to tell you the time where whoever you're talking to lives, sometimes Mizuki stays up till midnight talking to Sly on mobile when he's been told to sleep already, and he doesn't realize how late it is for Sly. When he ends up noticing and freaking out a little, Sly just laughs (or communicates it as well as he can via Skype). He doesn't listen to Mizuki all that often, but he seems to appreciate the effort. He doesn't react negatively, anyway.

 

He feels like he should be more concerned by whether Sly is a real person or not. So far, he seems kind of sketchy. The whole Japanese angle is kind of notorious for being a good way to catfish. He hasn't heard of it used on gay males, but Mizuki supposes it's not entirely out of reach. He's pretty fluent in English, too, and Mizuki doesn't really have an idea of the ideal internet boyfriend but maybe Sly is some people's type. He's met a lot of weird people on the internet. Sly would be bound to find someone.

 

He isn't, though. He doesn't know why, but Sly seems more trustworthy than most people he knows in real life. There's always school friends, of course, and he does have plenty of those that he gets along with great. He just doesn't feel this kind of calm and openness with anyone besides Sly.

 

It's a great friendship.

  
  


Among other things, in the first month of their friendship Mizuki learns a lot.

 

Most of his information is garnered when it's past midnight Sly's time. After that point, Sly's stability goes even further downhill that it normally is, and any sort of filter he had dissipates entirely. But even if Sly is visibly upset, it's not the kind of talking that actually requires a response. It's more of a dam-breaking rant that covers the screen of their conversation in randomly capitalized phrases, obscure smilies, and liberal use of curses. At first, Mizuki had actually tried to help him out a little, maybe stop him from the maniacal hailstorm that was Sly with little sleep, but it became quickly apparent that the best way to deal with him was just letting him run his course.

 

He doesn't mind it, though. He likes the little insights into Sly's mind that he gets, even if he's wary and skittish in the morning and refuses to discuss the “sappy shit” he'd been so upset about the night before.

 

That, and it seems to be cathartic for Sly. Just ranting is a good coping mechanism for him.

 

Even if Mizuki understands jack shit.

  
  


8 AM

**Sly Blue**

oh look at that

its our anniversary

one whole month

u and me babe

we gotta celebrate

**Mizuki .**

Truly monumental

**Sly Blue**

ikr

I feel like weve accomplihed so much together

**Mizuki .**

Like what

**Sly Blue**

well ur the father but I wasnt gonna mention it yet

that and didnt u manage to watch like 10 episodes of pokemon under my guidance

**Mizuki .**

That was kind of intense, yeah

**Sly Blue**

that was a fuckin religious experience I had pokemon dreams after that

**Mizuki .**

What kind?

**Sly Blue**

not wet dreams actually im a little better than that

mostly generic shit yknow being charizard

destroying my own house with flames

taking over the whole region

same old

**Mizuki .**

Generic

**Sly Blue**

what kind of dreams do u have boring shit probably

get on my level

**Mizuki .**

I dont remember them much actually

**Sly Blue**

wow thats boring

dreams are kind of horrifying tho so you lucked out

**Mizuki .**

I dont think theyre actually supposed to be horrifying, though

**Sly Blue**

pfffffft

nightmares are basic shit

**Mizuki .**

Really?

That's probably not good for you.

Most people don't have nightmares very often at all.

**Sly Blue**

rly

weak

**Mizuki .**

Mentally stable though

**Sly Blue**

theyre not mutually exclusive

**Mizuki .**

Debatable

**Sly Blue**

but srsly no big deal I can just drink a lot of caffeine and shit

I will grow stronger

**Mizuki .**

We covered this

**Sly Blue**

so we did

eh whatever if I sleep live seven hrs tonight will u be happy

**Mizuki .**

Eight

**Sly Blue**

like five

**Mizuki .**

Nine

**Sly Blue**

uGH IM GONNA SHOVE SKEWERS UP YOUR ASS

eight it is

**Mizuki .**

Thank you

**Sly Blue**

why are you thanking me

**Mizuki .**

Because I dont want you to hurt yourself.

Normal stuff

**Sly Blue**

sure it is

  
  


6 PM

**Sly Blue**

I slept like ten hours and it was not that bad

thanks I guess

**Mizuki .**

What did I do?

**Sly Blue**

I dont rly know idek if u did anything but it seems to have worked

**Mizuki .**

I think you dont understand how gratitude works

**Sly Blue**

ofc I dont but look how hard im trying

;)

**Mizuki .**

Its like it doesnt matter to you

if it has the word hard youre going to make a sex reference based on it

**Sly Blue**

no one understands me like u do

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im not actually sure what the hsm2 innuendo refers to seeing as i wrote this at like 3 am about a week ago but if i had to guess i'd say its the entirety of i don't dance because im fairly sure sly would ship chad/ryan.


End file.
